


Winner

by DecadentCollectionDestiny



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecadentCollectionDestiny/pseuds/DecadentCollectionDestiny
Summary: Kurusu Akira has won a bet. Sakamoto Ryuji has lost. His punishment? Wear his school uniform properly for once. Akira's reaction is... not what he expected it would be.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 275





	Winner

**Author's Note:**

> Rated Teen for mild language. Thanks to @tiffycatblogs on Tumblr for the idea!

“I don’t wanna.” Akira’s phone vibrated as it received Ryuji’s text. “You can’t make me.”  
“Ryuji, you lost the bet,” Akira typed. He was standing in the train on his way to school, getting jostled by other passengers left and right. “You have to.”  
“How was I supposed to know you had that wicked move?” Ryuji’s text was accentuated by an exclamation point. “That would have been helpful to know _before_ I bet that you couldn’t kill that shadow in one hit!”  
“Shinya’s Gun About lessons come in handy in the Metaverse, what can I say?”  
“Whatever man, I’m not doin’ it.”  
“Come on, you’ll catch it from everyone else if you don’t.”  
“Ugghh”  
“Aren’t you already on your way anyway?”  
“No”  
“You should hurry. It’s getting late.”  
“Yeah, yeah”  
Akira slipped his phone into his pocket and readjusted his bag on his shoulder. “Hey, watch it,” came Morgana’s voice. “You almost elbowed me in the face.”  
“Sorry,” Akira whispered so the other passengers wouldn’t hear him talking to his bag.  
Was Ryuji actually going to go through with it? Akira had been surprised when Ryuji had accepted the conditions for if he lost the bet. He was sure that this would be amusing. He’d certainly tried extra hard to win the bet when those terms were set. Well, he always tried hard to impress Ryuji. He didn’t really know why he did that.  
Akira smiled to himself, remembering Ryuji’s face when he had lost the bet. He’d been leaning out of the window of the Morgana van and his hands had clapped to his head when Akira had landed the Down Shot, killing the shadow instantly. “For real?!” he’d exclaimed and slumped down the side of the van while the rest of the Phantom Thieves laughed. “How the heck did you do that??” he had asked in disbelief.  
“Would you believe an elementary schooler taught me?” Akira had replied in his most confident voice. “The King sends his regards.” He’d tried to twirl his gun on his finger and slide it into the holster with a flourish, but he’d dropped it on the floor.  
Akira’s face became hot remembering that little mishap. So much for impressing Ryuji.  
The train intercom brought Akira back to the moment. “Aoyama Itchome. This is Aoyama Itchome.” The train stopped, the doors opened, and dozens of Shujin Academy students began to pour out.  
Morgana wriggled out of his bag and jumped to the floor as Akira stepped off the train. “Man, I’m cramped,” he said, stretching, claws extended. “I’m going to go run ahead, I’ll meet you there.”  
“Okay,” Akira nodded. “I’ll… catch up.”  
As Morgana hurried away, Akira pulled out his phone. “Are you on the train?” he texted Ryuji.  
“Yeah,” came Ryuji’s reply a few seconds later. “Almost there.”  
“Cool. I’ll be waiting.”  
Akira leaned against the wall of the station, kicking his feet back and forth and watching the crowd of Shujin students making their way to the exit to begin their walk to school. He pulled up the Phan-Site, just to have something to scroll through, but his scrolling was interrupted a few minutes later by the sound of the train pulling into the station. He looked up and could see through the window a very grumpy-looking Ryuji. An involuntary smile slipped onto his face.  
The train doors opened with a whoosh and a flood of people began to get off. Ryuji’s blond hair and tall stature made him stand out from the crowd. _Well, like he didn’t already do that,_ Akira thought.  
He saw Ryuji scan the room, then catch his eye. The expression on his face was nothing short of pure annoyance.  
“I hope you’re happy,” he said irritably as he made his way through the crowd towards Akira. He passed a group of people and Akira got to take a good look at him.  
He had to try very hard to keep his mouth from falling open.  
Ryuji wasn’t wearing his typical outfit. Oh, no. He’d lost the bet.  
Today his usual t-shirt was replaced with the Shujin Academy turtleneck.  
His pants weren’t cuffed to show his ankles like they usually were.  
He wasn’t wearing sneakers, but his school loafers.  
His suspenders weren’t dangling at his sides, but actually on his shoulders.  
Akira had never seen this before. He was used to seeing Ryuji look a certain way, but this… He’d expected to find it funny, when the bet was made. He’d expected to laugh. He hadn’t expected to have _this_ reaction.  
Ryuji looked… amazing.  
“Uh…” Akira managed to spit out.  
Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s weird, right?” he asked. He nodded his head toward the exit. “Come on, let’s just go.” The two boys began to walk.  
Akira kept stealing glances at Ryuji as they went. His turtleneck perfectly flattered his neck and his shoulders. His uncuffed pants accentuated his long legs. His jacket seemed to fit him better now than when he wore only a t-shirt under it. Despite his spiffy appearance, he retained his usual horrible posture, his hands shoved in his back pockets and his shoulders slumped, and he still carried his bag as if it were a backpack.  
Ryuji gave him a look. “What are _you_ looking at?”  
“N-Nothing.” Why was Akira’s heart suddenly beating so fast?  
Ryuji pulled at his collar. “God, this thing’s so freakin’ itchy!” He sighed. “How the hell do you wear this thing every day, man?”  
“You get used to it.”  
“Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna anytime soon.”  
There was silence except for the sound of shoes on pavement.  
Akira still couldn’t help sneaking peeks at Ryuji. He really couldn’t. He’d never seen Ryuji this put-together. Wow, did he look good. Of course, he preferred his normal look; this stuffy, buttoned-up ensemble didn’t suit the Sakamoto Ryuji he knew at all. But Akira couldn’t deny (at least to himself) that Ryuji looked absolutely fantastic. His shirt tucked in for once, the clean lines of the jacket outlining his broad shoulders, the ends of his turtleneck sleeves peeking out from the jacket sleeves.  
Seeing him dressed so nice… It was different. It really made Akira look at Ryuji more closely, from the shoes all the way up to the face. Especially the face. His strong jaw, his spiky blond hair, his ever-mischievous brow. And that signature smile of his, that, although not present on his face at the moment, Akira could picture vividly in his mind’s eye. Akira quickly and unintentionally found himself becoming lost in Ryuji’s features. And those chocolate-brown eyes…  
Ryuji scowled. “Look,” he said. “I know I look dumb, but that doesn’t mean you hafta stare, alright?”  
“No, I-” Akira stammered, taken aback. “I-I wasn’t - I mean - I didn’t-” His words became garbled as soon as they reached his tongue. He cleared his throat. “You don’t look dumb.”  
“Come onnn,” Ryuji insisted. “It looks stupid. This getup isn’t me.”  
“W-Well, yeah, but - uh…” Why wouldn’t the words come out of Akira’s mouth? “I - I mean - I think… You… uh… Y-You look really good.”  
Ryuji scoffed. “Yeah, right.”  
“No, really.”  
Ryuji turned his head and looked at Akira, his expression a mixture of confusion, surprise, and delight. “You serious? You’re shittin’ me, right?”  
Akira pushed up his glasses, which had begun to slide down the bridge of his nose. “Um, yeah. I - I mean, no. I mean... I - uh… I… really like it.”  
Ryuji chuckled in disbelief. “You… like it?” He shook his head, his trademark grin now spread across his lips. “You’re weird, man. But, uh...” He shrugged one shoulder. “Thanks.”  
Akira laughed awkwardly, trying to discreetly wipe his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants. “Yeah, no - no problem.”  
By this time the gates of Shujin Academy were nearing. Akira saw Morgana sitting on top of the fence. “There you are!” he called. “What took you so-” He stopped as he caught sight of Ryuji. “Oh my god…” He burst out laughing. “You look so weird!” he giggled.  
“Oh, yeah?” Ryuji retorted. “Well, this guy likes it, so who’s the weird one now?” he asked, pointing a finger at Akira, who bit his lip and hoped his face wasn’t turning red.  
“Uh, Akira,” declared Morgana. “Akira’s _definitely_ the weird one. Now hurry up, you’re going to be late.” He jumped down from the fence, landing on Akira’s shoulder and settling himself in his bag. “Man, I can’t wait for the others to see this,” he sneered.  
“Yeah, well, you can shove it,” Ryuji scowled. He nudged Akira with an elbow. “Come on, let’s get going.”  
“Y-Yeah,” Akira nodded. As Ryuji headed up the stairs to the front door and Akira followed behind him, one sentence manifested in Akira’s mind.  
_I think I have a crush._


End file.
